Fuel control device



Dec. l0, 1940. w. F. JAcKsoN FUEL CONTROL DEVICE Original Filed Jan. 7,1938 3 Sheets-Sheet l n. N 5 i m@ W8 N.. WGBH QM m WQ! FIL Lv 9 N E n Swmw .io @j by# .mw

I I 1N VNTOR. BJQ/fom Mmm.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR BY ULZLUf/czchow,

AT1" RNEY.

Dec. 10, 1940.

w. F.. JACKSON FUEL common DEVICE Original Filed Jan. 7, 1938 Dec. l0,1940.

W. F. JACKSON FUEL CONTROL DEVICE Original Filed Jan. 7. 193'8 5Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Z//L'zUfL/Ckom ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 10, 1940 Parent erica FUEL CUNTROL DEVICE Wilbur il'.Jackson, Lynwcod, Calif., assigner to Grayson Heat Control Limited,Lynnwood, Calif.,

a corporation of California Originai application January 7, 1938, SerialNo. 183,211, now liatent No. 2,201,399, dated May 2l, i940. Divided andthis application March 3l, 1939, Serial No. 265,082

3 maims.

This invention relates generally to fuel' control devices and moreparticularly to combination controls for gas appliances.

|ihis application is a division of my co-pending application SerialNo.rl83,811, filed January 7. 1938, now Patent No. 2,201,399, grantedMay 21, 1940.

The primary purpose of my present invention is to provide a shut-offcock for controlling gase- 10 ous fuel which will be durable andreliable in use, and which irrespective of itsdirection of rotationwillinvolve no tendency to loosening with consequent leakage.y I

n Another object is the'provision of a cock of the u ilat contact facetype which can be economically' produced, readily assembled, and easilyoperated.'

The manner in which the foregoing objects are accomplished andadditionaladvantageous features will become apparent as the description of n thestructure progresses. For purposes of illustration only, the device isshown in the drawing and will be hereinafter described as adapted-foruse with a gas burning domestic water heater.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation of the control;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view along the Aline 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side sectional view of the device; Figs. 4, 5, 6 and '7 arepartial views in-section 30 along llnel-i of Fig. 2 showing the relativepositions of the passages in the rotor and stator at. om start, "pilotonly 'and run positions, respectively;

Fig. 8 is an elevation of the dial;

u Figs. 9, 10 4and 11 are sections 'along lines 9 9,

IiI-I and II-I I, respectively, of Fig. 8;

Fig. l2 is a partially sectional end view of the device; and

Fig. 13 is a sectional view along line I3I3 of maiz.

As shown in the drawings, the controls are housed in a casing I vhavingan inlet 2 and an outlet 3 connected to supply gas toa main burner 4through pipe 4a. Gas entering inlet 2 proceeds through passage to a'rotor disk type of gas cock including a. stator 6 formed in the casingand a rotor disk 'I. The stator has a smooth, accurately finished, fiatseat intercepting the main conduit throughthe casing, of which passage Eis a part and having a central, threaded hole therein. The rotor diskhas a similarly iinished face engaging the seat witha central openingtherethrough. A stem 8, having a head on one end, threads on the otherend and a mal5 chined portion intermediate the ends, extends through thecentral opening in the rotor with the threaded end tightly mounted inthe hole in the stator and the machined portion serving as an axlefor'the disk.

A cup-shaped dial, operating handle or imob il d nts over andaround. thedisk and is secured thereto by screws it. The dial @has a centralopening through which the head of stem d ex- `tends. The face of thedisk. l is held tightly against the stator seat by a spring ii betweenthe head of thestemand the rotor. 'The front face of dial 9 carriesindicia and a plate i2 secured to the head of stem s substantiallycovers^VV the dial face but has a portion cut away as at r I3- to permitreading of the indicia corresponding 15 to the rotor position. A pointerit is also mounted on the casing and extends over the side of the dialto cooperate with the indicia to indicate the rotor position.

In addition to passage 5, there are three other passages, I9, and 2l,opening into the stator seat.- Passage I9 leads from the -stator to amanually adjustable pilot valve of a well-known type which is accessibleupon removal of cap 2li..

An outet at the rear of thisvalve is connected p5 by means of tubing 2tto a pilot burner 2l.'

Passage 20 forms part of the main conduit between inlet 2 and outlet 3and leads from the stator seat to the safety pilot valve 23. The smallpassage 2I leads from the discharge side '30 of the safety valve to thestator.

The rotor disk 'I has two arcuate grooves 22 and 23 formed in the facethereof and arranged to establish diierent communications between thestator passages at diderent positions of the rotor relative to thestator. There are three operating positions for the rotor known as the"oil," start and run" positions. The various communications establishedat these positions will be explained hereinafter in discussing theoperation o of the device. Untilthen', it will be suilcient to note thatthese positions are reached in the order named in the normal procedureby continuous rotation in one direction of the manually operated dial 9.The passages in the rotor and stator 4,5 are so arranged that .thedirection of rotation tends to advance the axle stem 8 into the hole inthe stator. Further means are provided for preventing the dial frombeing turned from one position to another inV the opposite direction 60tending to loosen the stem. This means consists of a latch member or pinI5 located beneath the pointer I 4 and urged by spring I6 against theedge of 'the cup-shaped dial 9 which has a plurality of notches IIformed therein. These notches are adapted to receive the member I5 ateachof the operating positions to provide a friction latch for the dial.Inspection of Figs. 9 and 10 will reveal that the notches are shaped 5with one square corner so that from the 01T position, thevdial may beturned only toward the start position, and from start.only toward "run.From Fig. l1 it can be seen that from run the dial may be turned to "ofor may 10 be turnedal short distance backwarduntil member I5 engages thecorner I8. The position of the rotor when the member l5 engages cornerI8 is not a normal. operating position but isa minor position known\as'pilot only" position l5 and is provided for reasons set forthhereinafter. The dial may not be turned from run to start without firstpassing the off position.

The shut-off ,cock thus provided is of decided advantage in itscbmpactness and ease of manufacture and assembly and in Aits particularcooperation with the other members of the control unit. The safety valve28 is constantly urged toward its seat 38 by a Spring 28. The seat 38is' car- 'ried on a member 3| which is threadedly mounted in the casingl. -Valve 28 has a composition insert 32 which actually engages the seat3@ and which is held in place by a retaining washer 33. Access to thevalve 28 and member 3l may be gained by removing cap 34. The valve 28 isactuated by a valve stem 35 extending therefrom through a bore invmember 3i to a thin, flexible sealing disk 38 which is clamped at itsperipheral margin between a shoulder 38 formed inthe casing and the`member 3l. The washer.31

serves to insure a gas-tight seal. AThe member 3i extends from the valveseat to the seal and is provided with radial ports 39 permitting` gaspassing through the valve 28 to flow there- 40 through to passage 48forming part of the main conduit through the casing.

A bell-crank lever 4i is pivoted on the casing and on one end carries abutton i2 engaging the sealing disk 38, the vbutton being in line withthe valve stem 35. The other end of the lever il is positioned to beengaged by the cam 43 carried by or formed on the edge of dial 9 to openthe safety valve 28 upon rotation of the dial from start to ,run." Thecam does not engage the lever at the start position and it has completely passed the' lever before the run position is reached.

A thermomagnetic assembly is employed to hold the safety 4valve openagainst the spring 28 after the cam 43 has released the lever. The

assembly includes a horseshoe-shaped electromagnet 44 within a housing45 removably mounted on the casing l over the flexible sealing disk 36.A rod'46, extending through the base of the magnet in line with thevalve stem 35 has one end engaging the button 42 while the other endcarries an armature bar 41. Bar 41 is Vurged toward the'poles of theelectromagnet 44 by a light spring 48. The spring 28, being muchstronger than spring 43, tends to hold the parts in the position shownin Fig. 13.

*The arms of` the horseshoe-shaped electromagnet carry coils 49 of thewire 53 which extends from the housing 45 through a current carryingtube 5l to be connected with one element 53 of an electro-thermocouple.The other end of the Y wire is connected to the tube 5I as at 52. thetube in turn being connected to the other element 54 of thethermocouple. The outer ends of the two elements are connected at 55 andare the valve.

heldin position to be heated by the flame from the pilot burner 21 by abracket 56. 'The heat y of the pilot iiame on the junction 55- willcreate a current in the coils 49 sufficient to energize theelectroma'gnet 44. Therefore, when the safety valve is opened manuallyby means of the cam 43 and lever 4 l, the spring 48 will force thearmature bar 41 against the magnet 44, Where it will be held to retainthe safety valve in open position. Upon extinguishment of the pilot 10flame, the 4junction 55 will cool and the current will cease. Whereuponthe electromagnet willl fail to hold the armature bar against the forceof spring 29 and the safety valve will be closed.

The passage vlll] leads from the safety valve l5 28 to the thermostaticregulating valve 51. However, a manually adjustable, restrictionvalver58 is inserted in passage 40 and serves to adjust the pressure ofthe gas fedto the burner 4.

A spring .59 constantly urges the regulating 20 valve 51 toward its seat80 carried by the'member 6I which is removably mounted in the cas' ing.Access to valve 51 and member 8l may be gained by removing cap 52.Thevalve 51 is operatedby a valve stem comprising two'relative- 25 lyadjustable parts 83 and 64, the latter of 'which engages a thin metalsnap-action or Clicker disk 55. vThe disk 65 4is of a type well-known inv the art and is adapted to be held near its periphery between anannular knife-edged shoul- 30 der 86 on member @I and an annularknife-edged shoulder 61 of a slightly smaller radius carried by a thrustmember 68. Movement of the thrust member back and forth along the sameaxis as the valve t1 results in a snap exing of the 35 center of thedisk 55 back and forth to operate The thrust member 58 rests against aiiexible sealing disk 59 and is moved by a thermany-responsive elementmounted on the other side of theedisk. The member 6I which carries 40' ithe valve seat 58 and the shoulder 86 is provided with radial portspermitting the flow of gas from valve 51 to the outlet 2.

The thermally-responsive A.unit as shown'is of the rod and tube type andis especially arranged 45 to be inserted in the storage tank of a waterheating system. The tube 10 of the thermo- Vresponsive unit has a highcoeflicient of expansion and is securely mounted at'its inner end on thecasing l. The rod 1l of theunit has a 50 low coefiicient of expansionand extends within the tube and is threadedly connected with a plug 12anchored in the outer end of the tube 10. The inner end of the rodcarries a cap 13 which engages the sealing disk 69. The diierential in55 the expansion of the rod and tube under the iniiuence of the heat ofthe water causesthe rod to actuate the thrust member 68'to eiTect open'ing and closing of the valve 51. The tempera-V ture at which valve 51will be operated may be 6( adjusted by means of a manually operatedlever 14 attached to the rod 1I by set screw 15. The lever 14 carries ahandle 16 -and apointer 11 for cooperation with indicia carried on thecasing. Movement of the lever up and down as 6J shown in Fig. l rotatesthe rod 1I to screw same further in or out of plug 12 tochange 'the ex`pansion differential. It is to be noted that the range of adjustment issuch that at the lowest position the pointer registers off. That is, ther temperature setting is such that the water cannot get cold enough toopen the valve 51.

A locking lever 18 is secured a one end to the lever 14 to be movabletherewith and is guided Yby a pin 19 in the casing I extenmng through 75 a slot 80 in the lever 18 intermediate the ends thereof. The lockinglever 'i8 extends from lever 'i4 upwardly toward the side of thecup-shaped dial 9. The lever 78 is of such a length that its upper endwill clear the side of the dial only when the adjusting lever is at thelowest position mentioned above. The side of dial 9 has an elongatedopening 8i in such a position that the opening will be vopposite theend'of lever 'i8 when the dial is in r'un position. Thus, the side ofthe dial is in effect a stop and the adjusting lever *id may be liftedabove its lowest position only when the dial is turned to run position;.dit that time, lifting of lever lt'will raise lever 'it whose'upper endenters the opening Si and the dial may not be turned away from runposition until the adjusting lever is re-set to its lowest point.Because of the position of lever lt the notches il will not permit it tobe raised so that the adjusting lever is therefore locked in its lowestposition with the regu- I iating valve closed and is released only uponrotation of the dial to run" position. As shown in Fig. 12 the slot toin the locking lever i8 is so shaped that after the end of the elongatedopening ti in the diaLitwill be moved along the opening upon continuedyupward movement of lever lll and thus avoid the rotor disk of theshut-0H cock which is enclosed by the dial.

In installing the control -the thermostatic unit is inserted into thetank through an opening provided in the tank and the threaded boss 82screwed into the opening. However, in turning the casing -to screw inthe boss the tubing iii of the thermomagnetic assembly'gets in the way.

, The assembly is therefore removed and after the casing is mounted onthe tank, the assembly is slipped in sideways between the tank and thecasing and secured by screws. The button 42 is tapered to lift the rody@t .into place as the assembly is slipped in sideways.

The operation of the control is `comparatively simple and providescomplete safety. In the off position of the dial, .the relativepositions of the passages in the stator and rotor are as shown in Fig. 4and no gas can pass the .shut-off cock.

The pilot cannot be burning, the safety valve is shut and because of thelocking lever, the regulating'valve is shut. Rotation of the dial tostart" places the .rotor passages as shown in Fig. 5 so that gas maypass from inlet passage 5 through the small groove 23 to passage I9 to'the pilot burner which should then be ignited. In the start position,gas alsopasses through groove 23 to passage 20 and the safety valve 28.However, the safety valve is still closed as is the regulating valve.

After a time interval of several seconds `to Dermit the pilot flame toheat the thermocouple sufficiently to energize the electromagnet, thedial leaving the start position, the cam 43 on the dial engages thebell-crank lever-4i to open the safety valve which is then held open bythe magnet. Continued rotation places the groove 23 in position toconnect both passages 5 and 2| to the pilot passage I9 so that gasto the.pilot is supplied from both ahead and behind the safety valve at thatparticular instant. However, when the run position is reached, therelative position of the rotor and stator is as shown in Fig. 7 and gasflows from inlet passage ii,v through groove 22, passage 20 and thesafety valve to passage li. Gas also iiows from the dischargeside thelever entersof the safety valve through passage 2|, groove 23 andpassage i9 to the pilot burner.`

Thus, when the dial has been turned to run position, the shut-olf cockis in full open or running position, the pilot is burning gas suppliedunder the control of the safety valve which is held open and will beheld open by the magnet so long as the pilot is burning. Then, and thenonly may the adjusting lever be lifted to set the temperature at whichthe regulating valve will be operated. If the water is colder thantheltemperature so set, the regulating valve will be opened and gas williow to the main burner to be ignited by the pilot flame. If for anyreason the pilot dame is extinguished, the safety valve will be closed,shutting od all gas to both burners. Thereafter, before the dial can beturned to supply gas to the pilot and to open the safety valve, theadjusting lever must be set to its lowest or od position with theregulating valve closed.

`The pilot only position on the dial is not intended to 'be used in theordinary course of events. This position is provided between the start"and the run positions to meet therequirements of the American GasAssociation that means shall be provided independent of any.

automatic devices for controlling or shutting off the main gas supplywithout aecting the pilot gas supply. In the pilot only"v position, allgas is shut oil' by the cock except that passing from the inlet passageto the pilot and the pilot only position may be reached from the runposition by turning the dial backwards.

Although in the present device there are at least two positions of thegas cock, one between start and pilot only and one between "pilot onlyand "run, in which gas may flow in the main conduit through the cock atthe same time that the safety valvewould be prevented by-a portion ofthe c am from closing completely, it will be understood that no gascanpass to the main burner because the regulating valve ls locked 'inclosed position.. It will then be safe for the operator to attempt torelight the pilot.

In this manner is provided a compact control that is completely safe andpractical. The appended claims are directed to this structure and ing aflat seat, a rotor disk having a flat face V' with a central openingtherethrough, a cupshaped dialA secured to and fittingi over and aroundsaid 'disk for manual operation thereof and having indicia on the frontface thereof and a central opening therethrough, a stem carried by saidstator and extending outwardly at right angles to the seat through thecentral openings in said dial and 'rotor to serve as an axle for thelatter, said stem having a head at its outer end, a spring between thehead and said rotor to force the face of the latter into engagement withsaid seat, said rotor and stator having passages provided therein toaiford different communications at different positions of the rotorrelative Ato the stator, and a plate secured to said head andsubstantially covering said dial face, said plate having a portion outaway to form a window through which the indicia corresponding to the.rotor position may be read.

2. A disk type gas cock including a stator having a iiat seat with acentral, threaded hole 4 l central opening therethrough, a manuallyrotatable knob secured to said -rotor for operation thereof, said knobalsov having a central opening, a stem having a head on one end,`threadson the other end and a machined portion inter-u mediate the ends, saidstem extending through the central openings in said knob and rotor withthe threaded end tightly mounted in said hole and the machined portionserving as an axle for said rotor, and a spring between said head androtor forcing the face of the latter into engagement with said seat,said rotor and stator Vhaving passages provided therein to afforddifferent communications at different positionsA of the rotor relativeto the stator, said rotor being arranged in the normal operatingprocedure to be rotated only in a direction tending to advance said steminto the hole.

3. In a disk type gas cock, a stator having a fiat seat with a central,threaded hole therein, a rotor diskhaving a fiat face with a centralopening therethrough, a cup-shaped operating handle secured to andiitting over and around said disk for manual rotation thereof, said.handlehaving a central opening, a stem having a head on one end',threads on the other end and a machined portion intermediate the ends,said stem extending through the central openings in said handle androtor with the threaded end tightly mounted in said hole and themachined portion serving as an axle for said rotor, a spring betweensaid head and rotor forcing the face of the latter into engagement withsaid seat,

said face and seat having gas passages therein with saidl rotor having aplurality of operating positions relative to said stator, a latch membersupported bythe stator anda second spring for urging said member againstthe edge of said handle, said handle having notches formed on its edgeto receive said member at each of said rotor positions, said notchesbeing shaped to cooperatewith said member to prevent rotation of saidrotor on said stem from one of said posi tions to another in a directiontending to loosen the stem. WILBU'R F. JACKSON.

